


That Time Ishi Adopted a Child (and it went downhill from there)

by olympian_mystery



Series: What Happens When You Get Yourself An Angry Mom Friend [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Crack Treated Seriously, Families of Choice, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, I changed the rating because there will be cussing involved, I'll add more tags as i go, It's Gai and Minato, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, Nonbinary Character, POC Suna Characters, POC Uzumakis, Self-Indulgent, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Suicide Attempt, Trans Characters, some violence as well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-04 02:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17295569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olympian_mystery/pseuds/olympian_mystery
Summary: In one days time, she would be leaving her home and go to Konoha, where her husband’s family lived.In one days time, she would be leaving her friends and the family she actually got along with.In one days time, she would no longer be a kunoichi but a simple housewife.In one days time, she would be leaving Uzushiogakure.





	1. Enter, Ishi

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blooming_flower](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blooming_flower/gifts).



> My younger sister got mad at me for never actually finishing anything and then starting up ideas. I literally just came up with this story on the fly and here we are now. This is entirely self-indulgent by the way.
> 
> I'd like to add that I have never finished watching Naruto and that all the information that I gathered was through information hunting on the internet. If I got some things wrong, I don't know what to tell you guys.
> 
> In the three days that I've been writing this so far, I just realized that my main problem with some of the storyline was that most of these characters must have had some type of friends around, so I'm forcing my OCs to be friends with these losers because it's what they deserve.
> 
> Update: I finally figured out where I want this to go and I made the appropriate changes necessary!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, I might re-write some of this again at a later date but so far, I think I'm satisfied with this.

Her wedding day was, perhaps, the most exciting day of her life. The birth of her siblings being close second but this was a different sort of excitement than the one she had felt back then and the outcome would be something different and completely new.

Looking at her sisters and brother standing to the sides while her husband waited for her in his ceremonial garbs was enough for Ishi to smile in excitement despite the heavy weight that she could feel as she focused on the guests who had made it and those who were no longer on the land of the living. The prime example being her younger brother, who was killed in battle.

From the corner of her eye, she caught the sight of her mother’s stern expression and just like that, Ishi could feel her face going back to normal. Her father was standing right next to her mother but Ishi only had eyes for the older woman.

Yoake was stern and exceedingly dangerous, a kunoichi bound to her ambitions and seemingly nothing else. Even while pregnant, she had continued with her duties until she couldn’t any longer. Ishi hadn’t known that particular fact until she saw it firsthand when her mother had been pregnant on her second sister and didn’t take a break until her due date was three months away.

Still, her mother was a prodigy and had always been one but Ishi had come to learn that being a prodigy didn’t necessarily mean that they had basic critical thinking skills when it came to what was truly important.

Ishi couldn’t say that she was going to miss her all that much though, the life of a shinobi was a dangerous one but Yoake had _never_ made things any easier and she had a cruel streak like no one else she had ever met. Prodigy or not, Yoake was still bloodthirsty and left a trail of blood wherever she fought. Ishi had seen the Bingo Book before and she found her mother’s entry easily enough.

The Bloody Terror is what her mother had been called and Ishi was inclined to agree with that notion even now that her mother had retired in order to train her sisters and brother. Thoughts of her siblings forced her to look at their faces now, they were smiling at her and she gave them a small smile in return. They would be alright without her here anyway, Yoake had mellowed with age but she was still a strict instructor that was hard to please.

Akegata’s hand on hers snapped her out of her thoughts and Ishi looked at her husband to be with a bright smile on her face. For years she had done everything her mother wanted but this, _this_ was her own victory that she had worked for. Ishi had never wanted to be a shinobi in the first place but her mother had insisted and so, she had become one, going as far as to make it to jōnin before Akegata proposed.

Marrying this man was Ishi’s own choice and the fact that her mother seemed to respect that choice meant more to her than she could have thought. That didn’t mean that everything was forgiven but with time- maybe they could patch things up. Still, this was her wedding day and as such, Ishi forced herself to forget all that led to this day and focused on the moment.

Looking at Akegata’s besotted expression was a welcome change to her thoughts and had she not been sure that she had a similar expression on her face, she would have probably laughed at him.

The ceremony itself only lasted an hour and by the time they made things official, almost everyone else had made it to the reception. Her sisters had been the ones to organize everything and Ishi thought that they had overdone themselves with everything.

There was plenty of food on the tables, most of the dishes consisting of some of her favorite meals and the location of the party had a great view of the sea. It was peaceful and that’s what surprised her most of all. Things were going her way for once and she was just thankful that it happened in, perhaps, her most special day.

Looking at the ocean like this, with a feeling of contentment and the sun’s rays hitting her back, Ishi was reminded of the first time she met her now husband. They had been younger then, Ishi herself was only 21 at the moment but she had met Akegata when they had been 12 and 13 respectively. She had been wandering the ports when there had been a ruckus, followed by a loud yelp and then a splash as somebody landed on the water.

She had gone to investigate then, her curiosity overtaking the warning signs on her mind, telling her that it could be someone dangerous and that her team was waiting for her to return after she had delivered the scroll to the captain of one of the ships. She had seen the boy then, trying to reach the port but sinking as soon as he made a grab for the ladder.

Without much prompting, she helped him get up and laughed at him as soon as she knew he was alright.

Ishi hadn’t known it then but Akegata had been there as an apprentice. He had tripped over some rope and had fallen overboard before he could have rightened himself. It had been the start of a beautiful friendship, Ishi thought with some amusement as she eyed her husband and smirked at him when he noticed her staring.

“You’re thinking about the time I fell from the boat, aren’t you?” he grumbled. He always knew what she was thinking of these days but he had been her best friend before he had been her husband.

Ishi’s smile widened at his disgruntled expression.

“It’s alright honey, I still love you even when you’re a complete klutz,” she said sweetly. She held his hand and squeezed it as he grumbled something about one day getting something on her but he squeezed her hand as well and Ishi’s smile softened at that.

Her attention was caught as she looked at their guests, pleased to note that most of her family and friends had been able to make it. Her sensei and her old team where even there as well and she waved at them with her free hand and raised the other, still entwined with her husband’s, like a victory flag.

She got a whistle in return but it felt good, _really_ good, to have them here and not treating her like anything less for the choices she chose to take.

But seeing everyone like this, happy and relaxed with the smell of sea salt and the sight of the ocean and the hills of her home, also felt like a blow. There was joy in the picture but there was also a whole lot of pain in there as well.

In one days time, she would be leaving her home and go to Konoha, where her husband’s family lived.

In one days time, she would be leaving her friends and the family she actually got along with.

In one days time, she would no longer be a kunoichi but a simple housewife.

In one days time, she would be leaving Uzushiogakure.

She was glad that nobody commented on the tears falling down her face as the stars began to appear on the sky.

She was happy that her mother was the one to initiate the hug for the first time since she could remember, going as far as to give her the prized sword their family owned as she boarded the boat with her packed bags and a new future ahead of her.


	2. The Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sorry for the wait, dog breath, things came up and we need to have a serious discussion about feelings,”

Ishi loved her children, she really did, Kireina was a loud child who wailed her misery to anyone who would listen. Kaze was much quieter but just as willful as his sister and even though he had been the older twin by a few minutes, Kireina had proven early on that she would always be the one on top.

Ishi was proud of her children for learning to be so independent, even at one year of age but if they so much as made a move to throw their baby food all over the place (they had good aim, if they wanted to be shinobi, she was willing to support them but encouraging their food throwing was out of the question) she was going to force them to spend more time with the older kids around the area.

Interestingly enough, her brats didn’t seem to like the company of older toddlers around, why, she didn’t know but they tended to behave after spending time with her neighbor’s two-year-old. She tried very hard not to think of the friends they could be secretly making and getting into mischief with.

“Alright you two, we’re going to go outside and you are going to like it” Ishi exclaimed suddenly, Kireina startled then but didn’t cry while Kaze just looked at her with wide eyes and then turned to look at his sister. Almost as if looking for their next cue, Ishi noted tiredly but put the thought away for later examination.

She was thankful for their relative quietness now but then again, they could have sensed her distress. Half-blooded Uzumaki or not, they were still Uzumakis and with how well they seemed to react with others, maybe she gave birth to a pair of sensors but it was too early to tell just yet. Still, gods knew that her appearance hadn’t improved much since she the day she had heard of the downfall of her village just a few weeks ago, her children didn’t need to be sensors to know that there was something wrong.

The twins had been doing well up until now but they also seemed to be getting tired about staying inside all day.

Akegata had been dealing with trades in Suna when the news came and he still wasn’t back. His parents had gone with him to keep him some company and so, Ishi had been left behind to take care of her children. It had been her own choice but now, she was starting to regret the decision. Even though she didn’t want to depend on anyone, this wasn’t something that she could deal with alone and she knew that.

Talking to someone else would probably do her some good though, looking around the apartment that she shared with her family wasn’t going to help her, especially when she hadn’t left her home in a week.

That was her first mistake but she still had a hard time believing that Uzushiogakure was truly gone, now that her brain had _finally_ registered the loss, she felt like she was suffocating.

Packing a bag, she grabbed the twins and went outside, making sure to close the door tightly behind her.

The sudden sound of _people_ almost made her want to cry out in relief that she wasn’t alone, not really. It was overwhelming but in a good way, she noted. She could already feel her eyes watering but held the tears at bay, she was a kunoichi, no matter what her papers said. She was more than a simple merchant’s wife but-

Her home had just been _destroyed_.

Her _entire_ family was probably dead or scattered.

Her people had been _massacred_ and she hadn’t been there to help.

The sudden anger that she felt was new and it was enough to overwhelm the grief that had taken over her in the last few days.

With a new purpose in mind, she made her way to the small park she had been visiting recently.

Spotting the playground, Ishi slowed her pace as she took note of all the children there but her attention was caught by the shock of silver hair that could only belong to one person.

A flash of red caught her attention before she focused on the task at hand again, she would have time to check later, when she didn’t feel like snapping or bursting into tears at any given second.

With as much grace as she could muster while holding two squirming one-year-olds, Ishi made her way towards the man who was holding a bundle of his own. The sight of the baby was enough to bring a sad smile to Ishi’s face before she turned her attention to the man once again. His wife had been one of Ishi’s first friends and Ishi had liked to believe that during that time, she had also made friends with her husband as well.

Some friend she was, Ishi thought with some chagrin, the man’s wife had died during childbirth and even though Ishi had grieved, she had still made an effort to visit him in the months that followed. With the fall of her village though, she had neglected her friend and that felt like the worst crime of all. Granted, it had only been a week but she prided herself in her consistency.

She had amends to make before she could talk things out though. With silent steps, she stood in front of him with a squirming toddler on each arm and gave him a wry smile as he looked up to face her from the bench he was sitting on.

“Sorry for the wait, dog breath, things came up and we need to have a serious discussion about feelings,”

Sakumo Hatake shook his head with amusement before letting out a dry chuckle.

Ishi smiled in victory.

✦

It had been days since Sakumo had actually talked to anyone and with the news of Uzushio’s fall, the village felt suffocating and grim with the loss.

Konoha had been late and her ally suffered for it.

Sakumo tried not to think of all of those who were lost, his wife had died just a few months ago, back when Uzushiogakure had still been standing. He could imagine the scale of casualties that the other village suffered if it was completely wiped out except for a handful of survivors.

The squirming bundle in his arms told him that it was time to stop wallowing and focus on the bigger picture. Kakashi was only a few months old but he had intelligence in his eyes that far surpassed any newborns he had seen recently. “Are you hungry?” he asked quietly and received more squirming as an answer. Pulling out a bottle, he began to feed the child in his arms when he caught sight of blood red hair coming his way and did a double take when he recognized who it was.

He hadn’t expected to see Ishi Uzumaki for a while, granted, he probably underestimated her resolve. He had only been friends with the younger woman for a few months, his wife had been the one to befriend her when Ishi had just come to the village four years ago. They had been immediate friends and Sakumo had been happy for his wife, opting to stay in the background and have small talk with the other woman’s husband, Akegata whenever they visited.

After his wife’s death, Ishi seemed to have turned most of her attention to himself and Kakashi and Sakumo had been glad that at least, he could entrust someone with child experience to take care of his son if he got sent on missions earlier than anticipated.

It didn’t hurt that she seemed to have shinobi training. When he had heard one of the merchants speaking to another about his son finally getting himself a wife from a foreign land and from a _founding clan_ no less, he had brushed it off and thought of it as wishful thinking or at the very least, that the woman had lied about her origins.

Clans, especially important ones, didn’t simply allow an outsider who took an interest in one of their own and gave them permission to get married. _Especially,_ when the groom in question wasn’t even a shinobi. Even branch members were subjected to the same thing, so Sakumo had not expected a dark-skinned, golden-eyed redhead, a full-blooded Uzumaki woman, to enter the gates next to the merchant’s son with her hand firmly grasped to his.

He was even more surprised when the woman, seemingly a civilian at first glance, stopped a stray kunai and returned it in the span of a second. However, he didn’t ask any questions and his wife had befriended her shortly afterward, leaving him to wonder in silence.

Seeing the woman coming his way, he couldn’t help but twitch a little as he looked down at Kakashi while he thought of something to say. Ishi had lost everything and he didn’t know how to start a conversation with someone who’s entire village was destroyed.

Had this happened before? Sakumo didn’t know the answer but Ishi was already there at that point.

Standing there, like she was challenging the world even while she held a child in each arm, he realized that maybe, he could be seeing a different aspect of the famed vitality that the Uzumaki were famous for.

Sakumo had thought that she would have wanted to be alone to grieve for her village but that didn’t seem to be the case. He proved to be correct when she opened her mouth and all that came out was-

“Sorry for the wait, dog breath, things came up and we need to have a serious discussion about feelings,”

Shaking his head in amusement, he let out a dry chuckle that sounded a bit broken, even to him and stood up, putting the empty bottle away and offering to take one of her children so she could make herself comfortable. “I think you misspelled Sakumo somewhere in there” he offered lightly.

Ishi ignored him and handed him Kireina before taking Kakashi from his grasp and then handing him Kaze as well. Noticing his look, she rolled her eyes at him before cooing at the baby in her arms “They’ve spent the last week with me and they’re getting fussy. Kireina seems to like you and Kaze follows his sister's example so you get to keep an eye on them while I focus on Kakashi” she said.

Sakumo was just glad she didn’t snap at him “Alright, suit yourself. I think he’s missed your fussing though. If you don’t cut it out, he’ll want your attention more and more often until he’s all but forgotten about me,” he joked but seeing as Kakashi was giggling now, he couldn’t help the bead of sweat that formed in his forehead as he actually considered it.

Snorting, Ishi just shook her head and laughed “I doubt he will completely forget about you but _I_ will certainly become his favorite. Kireina and Kaze seem to agree with me as well,” she teased.

Sakumo looked down at the two bundles on his arms as they giggled (almost as if they were in agreement with their mother) and he looked at the two with betrayal.

“I can’t believe I’m being insulted by my friend and three children” he whispered disbelievingly.

His only response was a maniacal laugh and three happy giggles from his companions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be honest, I'm just making this up as I go so it really came to me as a shock when my brain decided to go ahead and make Ishi befriend Sakumo and then decided to include Dai into the mix because there needs to be a parent squad somewhere.


	3. Feelings

“I feel like I should have seen this coming,” Ishi said suddenly and Sakumo turned his attention from Kaze’s dual colored eyes to look at his friend. She looked tired and there was a haunted look in her eyes that spoke more of grief than tears could possibly convey.

Sakumo was aware of the feeling but he didn’t think it could come close to what she was going through, an entire village was destroyed, everyone that Ishi had grown up with was either dead or scattered across the Elemental Nations. 

Looking around the park, he noticed that a lot of the kids were gone now and it was getting late. Not to mention that there might be listening ears around, they lived in a shinobi village though, it was to be expected that there would be some unwanted ears around.

“How come?” he asked but he felt like he had a vague idea as to why. At the same time, he stood up and grabbed his bag, waiting for her to do the same before making his way back to his house.

He could almost feel her tensing before she relaxed again and made her way next to him so that they were walking side by side. “My clan is renowned for our fūinjutsu and from the letters my sister sent me, they were discovering new techniques to use. Power creates admiration but it also causes fear and I think that’s the main reason Uzushio was destroyed. My clan could have created a revolution and those cowards feared that their power would be lost,” 

She sounded resigned up until she sounded like she was going to break something. Sakumo risked a quick glance before turning his attention to the road ahead of them. If she hadn’t been holding Kireina and Kakashi, he was sure that the road would suffer heavy damage.

Before he could speak though, she continued her rant.

“They all like to preach about equality and things being  _ fair  _ but we all know that they can’t handle someone having more power than them. My people were more content to stay in Uzushio than go to the mainland. I hope my family gave them hell though, the Bloody Terror would have taken down as many enemy nin as she could before going down herself. I doubt the rest of the clan didn’t take down their own share before our village fell” 

There was satisfaction in that tone and Sakumo didn’t blame her for it. Konoha citizen or not, Ishi had been from Uzushio first and it had been her home for the majority of her life. In the grand scheme of things, killing the majority of the enemy’s military was probably what they deserved compared to the loss of the entirety of Uzushio. He wondered why she would mention the famous (or infamous, it depended on who you asked) name of the kunoichi before remembering that Uzushio hadn’t been that big to begin with. The Bloody Terror was an Uzumaki and Ishi had probably known her personally before she came to Konoha.

“What are you going to do now?” he asked, there really wasn’t an answer for, well, everything that had just been dumped on him so the best course of action was to move forward.

“What else can I do? I can’t exactly take revenge on an entire country but politically, there are some silver linings that I can take advantage of” she answered, though there was mild distaste in her expression as she stared up ahead and nodded at the door.

Rushing to open it, Sakumo let her walk through before settling Kaze down on the mat and then closing the door firmly. Ishi let Kireina down next to her twin before handing Kakashi over to him. 

He fussed over the baby before going over to his nursery and settling him down for the night as he made sense of what Ishi had just told him. “Am I right to assume that the Uzumaki clan is going to make a comeback in the near future” it wasn’t a question anymore, he could see the woman’s conviction in her eyes when she made her statement.

From behind him, Ishi gave a bitter smile before her expression turned neutral “The shinobi would have stayed in Uzushio, I can assure you that the majority of the survivors were probably civilians. As far as I know, Mito has more of a claim to the title of Clan Head than anyone else but she’s old now. Tsunade is a Senju though and has more claim to that name than her Uzumaki ancestry. Unless more members of our main royal family survived, I’ll take the title until someone fights me for it.”

Turning his body to look at her directly, he raised a questioning eyebrow at her. She had practically just confirmed what he had suspected, that she had been a shinobi herself and was probably one of the last Uzumakis left alive now. “Glad to know that I’ll be working with you soon then” he offered.

Ishi took it in stride and gave him a feral grin as she made her way out of the nursery and into the guest room. She had practically claimed it the first time she had stayed over, having been heavily pregnant then and her husband had had to go on a business trip for a week.

The room had gradually been filled up with more of her stuff and most of the time, she stayed over when her husband was away. Of course, Sakumo had seen her gradually invade other people’s homes in this manner as well. If he remembered correctly, he had seen Ishi around Maito Dai and his own wife, not to mention that she frequented the Uchiha compound from time to time as well. The Hokage’s residence wasn’t spared either and Sakumo got the distinct feeling that this wasn’t even planned. Ishi may have been strong tempered but a manipulative genius she was not. At least, not from what he had seen.

“Just you wait, dog breath, we’ll be put on the same squad and everything. Akegata can watch the kids while we kick ass and take names” Sakumo laughed at that but his brain caught up to her words and the meaning behind them. He stopped and stared at her but she paid him no mind as she continued.

“Besides, I’m part royalty myself, the Bloody Terror may have been a fearsome name in battle but Yoake Uzumaki also had some political influence and not just because she was powerful. With some work, I think her daughter will be able to polish her skills. The few surviving Uzumakis are valuable right now and the Elemental Countries are going to want to grab as many as their grubby hands can get. I’m not going to make it easy for them though, it might take me years but I’ll make sure that Uzushio is rebuilt even if I’m not alive to see it” she finished. From this light, with the sinking sun shining from the window and hitting her back as she raised her fist, Sakumo couldn’t help but think that she looked like she was being engulfed by flames. 

Distantly, he wondered if this is how Uzushio ended but stopped the thought before he could finish it. He had to have faith in his friend and trust that she would be able to handle herself. Still, that didn’t mean that he would be sitting in the sidelines for all of this, by claiming the right of Clan Head, Ishi would gain a lot of enemies and that meant that her children would be put at risk as well. Not to mention her husband who was still a civilian. Maybe Sakumo couldn’t do much but he could certainly visit his friend at her house more often and check up on things, especially when she wasn’t around.

Content on his plan of action, he allowed himself to relax slightly before he shook his head and looked at Ishi again, who was entering the room again with her children. She looked at him curiously just as she was settling the kids down on the bed.

“Did you just say that your mother is the  _ Bloody Terror _ ?” he asked incredulously “and you’re a jōnin?” he added just to make sure.

He received an unimpressed look for his dramatics and Sakumo felt the need to defend himself “I knew you were good, I just didn’t know the _ extent _ alright. How did your husband even manage that? Not only were you from a founding clan but your mother was notorious for being one of the best. Knowing how clans work, I’m surprised they let you two get married just like that.”

Ishi rolled her eyes but her expression seemed smug now “The day Akegata got his act together and finally proposed was also the day I got offered a position for the secret police but that’s another matter entirely” she waved it off like it was nothing but there was a familiar glint in her eye that appeared whenever she talked about her husband, “My mother wasn’t happy at all and my father, although talented, just let my mother handle the situation because out of the two, my mother was the explosive one. I stood my ground though and it was the first time I ever stood up to her, they were looking for a husband for me anyway and I didn’t want to marry anyone I didn’t choose. I knew that Akegata was the one for me the first time we went on a date and he took me to all my favorite places and I only had eyes for him anyway. In the end, I was allowed to do whatever I wanted but I think that what really saved me was that I had my younger siblings to back me up”

Her expression turned sad then but one look at her children made her straighten up “I’ll do what I can to help my clan, my family but I’m going to need your help for that. Can I count on you?” she asked, her expression was hopeful and there was vulnerability there.

Sakumo gave her the best affronted look he could form before replying.

“Of course, I thought that was obvious. When do we begin?” 

The relieved sigh he received was the most satisfying sound he had heard in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to change where I was going to this story because at first, I didn't want to change that many things and keep it close to canon to a point but then I decided that there's a lot that could have been prevented in that era and so I'm just going to do a lot of worldbuilding of my own here because screw canon.


	4. Ishi  Adopts a Child

Well… this was new. Or maybe she hadn’t been paying enough attention to the village goings recently.

Ishi had thought that she had been prepared for whatever might come her way but the sight of an angry little girl with bright red hair beating up a group of boys had not been on her list when she had decided to take a walk with her family that morning.

After her decision to become the new Uzumaki Clan Head, she had stayed at the Hatake’s place for two more days and had even gotten some sparring practice.

However, her friend seemed to have recalled that he neglected to tell her about Mito Uzumaki's death the day that her husband and his parents arrived.

Needless to say, she had tackled him to the ground before grinding his face against the grassy floor of the training ground before going to the gates to greet her husband.

Sakumo seemed to be doing better when she left though, so Ishi allowed herself to spend time with some of the last blood family she had left. It didn’t escape her notice that some of the villagers were giving them a wide berth either. She wasn’t exactly sure why but at least nobody had tried to give her empty apologies, then again, she doubted many realized she had been an Uzumaki in the first place.

In the end, it didn’t matter since the walk had been peaceful up until the screaming started. Handing over the twins to Akegata, she went over to investigate what the commotion was about. Honestly, Ishi hadn’t known what to expect but a group of children surrounding someone significantly smaller wasn’t what she had been expecting.

Especially when said smaller figure turned out to have given her bullies a run for their money. Ishi would have smiled with admiration if it weren’t for the fact that she was currently in shock.

The girl had dark skin, lighter than Ishi’s own but still recognizable to an islander and the red hair that framed her face was a sight that Ishi thought she wouldn’t get to see on anyone else but her children or when she looked in a mirror. Her eyes were purple, she noted distractedly as she looked back and noticed that Akegata was busy entertaining the twins.

The kids, boys, for the most part, decided to make their retreat then and Ishi watched them run away before looking back at the girl. If her appearance wasn’t convincing, then the chakra she could feel coming from her was and if she wasn’t mistaken, the malicious chakra she could also feel meant that the girl was carrying some extra luggage with her.

Besides Mito, Ishi had never actually come face to face with another Jinchuuriki before. She had heard stories, of course, the tailed beasts were dangerous but that wasn’t the only reasoning as to why her clan liked to talk about them more often than probably any other hidden village despite not having a bijuu of their own.

The process to place a bijuu into a human was an interesting one and the seals behind it had to be strong and steady. The closest thing to perfection as they could get so as not to risk letting a tailed beast break free from their host.

But there was another reason for Ishi’s interest in this new Jinchuuriki besides her being a possible Uzumaki and wanting to take a look at the seal. Her clan had the most recorded history of the Sage of Six Paths himself, meaning that they had gained some knowledge of the beasts but she had left before she could have gotten more information from the archives.

That would be for another day, Ishi thought firmly as she shook her head to clear away her thoughts. Steeling herself, she silently made her way towards the girl and cleared her throat once she was a few paces away from her.

Angry purple eyes turned to glare at her almost immediately before the girl froze and her eyes widened comically as she looked up at Ishi.

She was panting, from exertion and anger if she had to guess but that was neither here nor there. Ishi smiled kindly at her before kneeling so that she could be eye level with the girl.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around the village before. Then again, I probably don’t know everyone just yet since I moved here four years ago. Konoha is a nice place to live in but I think I like our ancestral home better, nothing really beats the sight of the ocean and Uzushio had some of the best views from what I’ve seen,” her voice remained steady but Ishi was grabbing the fabric of her dress so tightly she wouldn’t be surprised if her knuckles were whitening.

The girl seemed to be having a bit more problems with keeping her composure as she stuttered for something to say. “Y-You’re Ishi Uzumaki, you’re the Bloody Terror’s daughter-”

Ishi had not expected the sudden tackle hug but she returned the hug anyway, stroking the long red hair and smiling sadly. She didn’t have to guess why the girl seemed so relieved, or shocked for that matter, children were cruel at times and especially so when they encountered someone different. The same could be said for adults but some of them at least had the common courtesy to talk behind your back. This girl, in particular, seemed to be having a hard time adjusting and Ishi could relate to the feeling, squeezing her shoulder gently she began to think about what to say.

“I am, and since you seem to know my mother, I think it’s safe to assume that you knew the rest of my family as well. However, I’m afraid that I’m at a loss as to who you are, would you care to enlighten me?” she finally asked. The girl’s eyes watered with unshed tears but there was a determined glint in her eye as she stepped away from Ishi and looked at her seriously.

“Kushina Uzumaki and I’m going to be the first lady Hokage, ya know”

Ishi beamed at that and stood up, offering Kushina to take her hand. Her smile widened when the girl gave her a considering look before placing her smaller hand on hers. “If we’re introducing ourselves like that, then I’m Ishi Uzumaki and I plan on becoming the Clan Head of the Uzumaki line”

Kushina looked up at that but there was a thoughtful expression on her face. Nodding to herself, she turned her attention back to Ishi and pointed at her with a serious expression on her round face “Alright but I’m calling you Ishi-nee from now on. You can be the Clan Head and I’ll take the hat” there was a smile on her face now and Ishi nodded as seriously as she could before looking up and spotting her husband with the twins.

“Hey Kushina, where are you staying at?” Ishi asked suddenly and the girl looked up again before turning her gaze to the path ahead before shrugging.

“The Hokage let me have an apartment of my own” she replied and Ishi could feel her eye twitch at that. “How old are you, exactly?” she gritted out but Kushina seemed to sense the threat behind those words.

“I’m nine years old” she replied cautiously but it was then that she spotted the twins that Ishi’s husband was holding and rushed to see them.

Ishi let her go and grabbed Kaze from his father’s grasp as Kushina cooed at Kireina. The sight was enough for Ishi to calm down and she looked at Kaze’s green and amber eyes before looking at Akegata helplessly. “She lives in an apartment. She’s nine” she hissed, shinobi in training or not, Kushina deserved to have some support and structure in her life and Ishi was going to give it to her, Hokage’s orders or not.

Ishi had never agreed with the system anyway, but it was what it was. It didn’t mean she had to like it though and her husband knew her well enough at this point that he took a step back before she could start ranting again. Ishi paid him no mind though, her gaze fell on Kushina as she studied the girl, she was… average. Her height was rather small and as far as ‘prodigies’ went, the little redhead didn’t seem to be one but with enough hard work, Kushina would soon be a terror.

The thought made the older woman smile and if it was a little sharper than what could be considered appropriate, well… she never claimed her intentions to be pure. The grief of losing her entire village was still raw but there wasn’t enough time to grieve.

Not now at least.

Turning sharply to face Akegata, she handed Kaze over to him again and looked in the direction of the Administration Building through narrowed eyes.

“Kushina, would you like to live with us for the time being?” she asked, looking back at the girl who was trying to free her fingers from Kireina’s grasp.

“Um, sure Ishi-nee. Won’t the old man mind though?” Kushina asked but was distracted again as she pulled her hair away from Kaze’s reaching fingers.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll talk to him myself if it becomes a problem” Ishi reassured her, ignoring Akegata’s spluttering.

Kushina just shrugged and continued to her struggles against the twins “Alright then, this is going to be the best, ya know” she replied, a content smile on her face.

Ishi couldn’t help but agree.

  
✦

Kushina may only be nine years old. However, that didn’t mean she was  _ stupid _ and  _ naive  _ like so many people in Konoha seemed to believe her to be.

Already two months living in the forest village and Kushina was already yearning for her home in Uzushio. She knew that it couldn’t happen though and the sooner she faced that reality, the sooner she could get over the pain.

Something wet landed on her hand and Kushina frowned at that - confused as to what it could be - before she felt the growingly familiar chakra of the demon fox stirring. Frowning, she forced herself to stop thinking of her lost home and think on other things but it was hard and she was so  _ tired  _ of trying to keep herself together-

No.

Those were the thoughts that the tailed fox wanted her to think. Steeling her spine, Kushina straightened on the chair she had claimed and slapped her cheeks with her hands. The resounding smack and the sting were enough though and she allowed herself to feel satisfied. She was a shinobi through and through and nothing would change that. She would become the Hokage and prove her strength to anyone who had ever doubted her.

Standing up from her perch, she took a last look at her spot next to the window before heading over to Ishi and Akegata’s room. The layout of the place was rather straightforward and it hadn’t taken Kushina long to figure it out once Ishi had given her free reign of her home. With this being her third night, the girl felt confident enough in wandering the halls at night without being questioned.

Tiptoeing past the twins’ nursery, she opened the next door slowly and peeked through.

Ishi’s figure was easy enough to spot, especially given the fact that she was sprawled over most of the bed while Akegata was curled up at the corner and clutching the blanket for dear life.

Stifling a giggle at the sight, Kushina closed the door firmly and went to her own room. It was spacious and even though they lived in an apartment, there was still enough room to move around. It was certainly better than the apartment she’d been living in. Her old place had been fairly decent but the loneliness felt more prominent at night when she was alone and had nothing to do. Studying got boring after a while and she didn’t have any friends.

Even that weird boy with the blonde hair seemed more content in watching her than interacting with her and… it hurt. 

But she was tired of hurting. No amount of begging and crying would bring her home back, especially not from a helpless little girl. 

It was enough to send a spark of something stronger under that grief and Kushina froze as her thoughts came to a stop. 

Belatedly, she realized she felt angry. 

Clinging to that anger like she had clung to Mito when she was told she would be the demon fox’s next host, Kushina allowed herself to feel that anger fester. She would hone it and with time, it would become the base of her strength.

Never again would she allow herself to be helpless. The strongest shinobi she’d seen had strong convictions that they stood by and Kushina had always thought that it was because of that that they became so dangerous. She would be in their ranks one day, that she vowed silently as she changed into her pajamas, jinchuuriki were dangerous in their own right but Kushina wouldn’t need the help of the fox to get where she wanted to be. She would train and she was going to  _ excel _ at being an amazing kunoichi.  

She would not allow herself to be swayed.  _ Could not  _ allow herself to be controlled. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t love. If what Mito had said was true, she would love those who deserved it with all she had and with time, maybe she could grow to love Konoha as much as she had loved Uzushio. It would certainly keep the demon fox in his place anyway.

_ Hear that furball  _ she thought  _ I’ll fight you for control every step of the way so you better give up now. _

All she felt was a flash of irritation and anger in return before he became dormant again. Kushina knew it wouldn’t be that easy but for now, it would be enough.

Just as she was settling for bed, Kushina allowed herself to remember her trip to Konoha, if only to get some closure for her sudden relocation. She still missed her home and even with her new convictions… it was hard to think about the islands themselves. Safer to think of the trip to Konoha instead.

Yoake Uzumaki, pulled out of retirement, had been her sole escort but it had been enough. Uzushio was known for fūinjutsu, it was their specialty but the majority of the shinobi didn’t go out to the other Elemental Nations very often and even though they were known as power-houses, Uzushio was always a largely peaceful village.

Which was probably why Yoake had been seen as an oddity among the other villages when it came to their views of the Uzumakis. She had a flee on sight order, which was typical enough when it came to especially talented Uzumakis but Kushina had heard enough from some of her clan members to know that there was a particular reason the kunoichi was feared.

The Bloody Terror was known for always getting the job done and typically with gruesome endings for the ones she was pursuing. If one wanted to fight her, they would have to follow the bloody trail of mangled corpses to find what they wanted. Deadly with a sword and even more devastating with seals, Yoake had been a prodigy unlike any other and with age, she only got  _ better _ and more well rounded with different forms of taijutsu, ninjutsu, kenjutsu, and genjutsu. It was rumored that she could form deadly concoctions as easily as she could cook a simple meal (Kushina didn’t know if that was true or not but she didn’t want to ask at the time and it was too late to ask now). However, her strongest areas had always lied with fūinjutsu and kenjutsu and it seemed she had passed down her knowledge down to her five children.

Four after the death of her third child but each one of them had had specialized training with their mother and among them, there had been a particularly talented kunoichi that was supposed to have been her mother’s heir. Was her heir if what the older woman had told her was true- which, it probably was since Yoake Uzumaki rarely seemed to be the one for pleasant chatter. 

The trip to Konoha itself had been more exciting as the Bloody Terror spoke of her family.

(Kushina didn’t know it at the time, but Yoake had seen the rising threat and hoped to pass on  _ something  _ to the younger generation. She knew she would die defending her village, there really wasn’t another option especially not when her clansmen and the families living in Uzushio would be fighting as well. She may have grown weary, her life had always been a constant fight but she was far from helpless and if she was going down, she was going to take as many enemies as she could with her.)

She learned about her youngest son, a medic of Uzushio who knew his fair share of poisons and took up genjutsu as easily as a fish took to water. The fūinjutsu was a given but he liked to alter seals for his own personal uses instead of fighting with them.

Her daughter, only one of a pair now that her older brother was gone. The twins had specialized in kenjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu. Yoake said that they were so in sync that they could finish seal sequences in half the time simply because they knew each other so well that they could anticipate what the other was going to draw and finish help finish it.

Her second oldest, by far the most eccentric of the bunch but a prodigy in her own right. Even though she had been taught everything her mother knew and still  _ sought _ out more from other people, she had a knack for seals and that’s what she had decided to dedicate her life to. She was a revolutionary who wanted to explore every nook and cranny about seals and typically succeeded in creating new techniques by accident. Prodigy or not, she was a klutz when she was out of her uniform.

And finally, her oldest daughter, Ishi Uzumaki. Kushina had heard rumors about her but no matter how many times she had inquired about her to her own mother, nothing solid ever came up.

A revolutionary with talent. A disgrace to those like her. 

Too kind. Too harsh.

Kushina had never gotten a solid answer about one of the youngest Seal Masters the village had produced. At least, not until she talked to the former kunoichi’s mother herself. 

Yoake described her daughter as a rebellious spirit, hidden under the guise of someone who followed the rules down to the smallest details. Born during the First Shinobi War and taking part in the Second, Ishi Uzumaki had gained a reputation for using fūinjutsu, her preferred weapon being her Adamantine Sealing Chains but she was, overall, well rounded enough to become a jōnin at fifteen and earn the title of Seal Master at eighteen. 

By all rights, she had the potential to surpass her mother but the shinobi life had not been for her. A genius of hard work and dedication but the best potential couldn’t be honed if her heart wasn’t really into what she was doing. Hence, why she decided to get married at a young age and retire from active duty. Moving to Konoha to start her new life there without having the pressure of her home constantly on her back, urging her to continue a path she didn’t want.

Kushina couldn’t say she understood, she had always wanted to be a kunoichi. She wanted to be respected and she hated being helpless. She wanted to be strong and a lot of her friends had shared the same view. Nobody had wanted to be  _ helpless _ and even though she knew that wasn’t exactly the case, she really couldn’t come up with a better conclusion.

She could freely admit that she had gotten angry at Ishi for leaving their home in the first place and quitting what so many others spent _ years _ on. Those had been her first thoughts when she heard that Uzushio had fallen, maybe with her around, the village could have had a better chance of making it through the attack.

Those were childish thoughts though. Even with the Bloody Terror’s entire family, it hadn’t been enough and among them, Yoake Uzumaki herself was the fourth most powerful shinobi in their village. One more shinobi could have taken down more enemy nin but the outcome would have been the same, she knew that now.

Still, the childish stubbornness was still there but meeting Ishi in person had been an interesting experience in itself. She hadn’t known how the older woman looked like but an almost exact copy of Yoake had not been it. With the exception of the amber eyes and Ishi’s lighter skin tone, she couldn’t have been anyone but the older kunoichi’s daughter.

Which reminded her-

Yoake had talked about other subjects, still relating to her family but Kushina didn’t fault her for it. They had been interesting people after all.

From those conversations, Kushina came to find that the older kunoichi had traveled far and wide. Sailing past the seas and into distant lands before making her way back. Her husband had been half Uzumaki though, his grandmother having come from those distant lands with a group of her family. That had been back when villages were just a passing thought and people lived to survive.

When thoughts of peace were nothing more than a fool’s dream if Yoake’s words were to be believed.

In any case, the newcomers had brought gifts with them and three of them were currently residing with Kushina’s belongings as well as three storage scrolls that Yoake had asked her to give to Ishi if she ever met up with her.

She would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious but she knew enough about security and privacy precautions to know that opening the storage scroll was a bad idea.  Yoake, however, had told her that as soon as her daughter had received her inheritance, that Kushina should tell her that she could have her pick of one of the Summoning Scrolls that were packed.

Kushina knew enough to know that Yoake had given her a choice. Summons were difficult to handle and they usually looked for those who were worthy, yet some were more accepting than others.

She knew that they were family, that the kunoichi was a distant aunt from her mother’s side but it meant something. Their families hadn’t been that close, after all, the Uzumaki clan may not have been that large, but it was large enough for them to have different groupings. To inherit a valuable scroll like that was almost like being adopted into the family and Kushina wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

Decided, she hugged her pillow and promised herself to tell Ishi about her cargo by the next morning. There was a new sense of excitement that made her forget about her anger and her grief though. 

She may have lost most of her clan but she still had family and really, that was enough for now.

(The thought of having Summons of her own may have helped in motivating her to actually get to the academy on time.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! That chapter was longer than anticipated. Don't know how to feel about it yet but it's here.


	5. Summons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a lot longer than anticipated.
> 
> I didn't read it over yet. I'll probably do that later but for now, here's what I got.
> 
> I have no beta reading this at all, so it's just going to be me dealing with this mess and making adjustments once I'm done.

Being around so many children at once was interesting in a way that a dangerous predator who was hunting for a meal was interesting.

Being around children that were learning how to best incapacitate and kill a person was both terrifying and frustrating in a completely different way.

Akegata didn’t really have room to talk though, he himself had been enrolled in the academy before deciding that being a shinobi wasn’t really for him. He’d lasted two years before dropping out at least, but the family business had seemed like a better choice to follow.

It still did, honestly. 

A sharp tug on his ponytail reminded him that he wasn’t alone and he tried his best to look at his little passenger currently riding on his back in the makeshift sling that Ishi had made for him out of a shawl.

He caught the glimpse of a small and pudgy fist before Kireina pulled his hair again. 

“I think that’s enough for now,” he said just as he made to grab his ponytail and place it over his shoulder and turned his attention to the older twin. He wasn’t very surprised when Kaze was distracted and making grabbing motions towards Kushina. 

The girl seemed delighted by this, however, and she made to hand him her fingers before Akegata shook his head, making his ponytail go back to its original position and his daughter was quick to take advantage. Kireina’s tug was painful and irritating but he could live it with. Right now, he couldn’t afford for Kushina to be late. He was an  _ adult _ , he had to set an example after all.

Kushina seemed reluctant but she pulled her fingers away and Akegata just barely managed not to sigh in relief. “You better get going if you don’t want Ishi to wait until you become a chunin to let you pick your scroll” he warned and hoped to kami it worked.

She had woken them up early that morning, saying that Ishi’s mother had asked her to hand her some family heirlooms before casually (she tried to go for casual, that much Akegata could tell but she had failed when she couldn’t keep the grin off her face) saying that she had been promised a scroll.

Ishi had smiled a little at that but the melancholy was clear on her face as Kushina had handed her the items. One scroll, in particular, was different from the others and it was the first to be opened. 

Eleven summoning scrolls promptly fell on their dining table and Akegata could only stare before Ishi had put them all away and told them it was almost time to go. She had given him a look then, meaning that she would explain later.

Probably.

Either way, he had offered to take the twins with him to drop Kushina off but the small redhead seemed to have more energy than usual and had run ahead. It was considerably better than the gloomy expression she had had for the entire time that Akegata had known her. Children shouldn’t wear loss so comfortably and it bothered him that most of these kids seemed to be used to it. 

It was nice seeing her acting her age and by the glint in her eye, it seemed she had the same fighting spirit that he had seen on so many other Uzumakis. With a firm nod, Kushina nodded and turned around, looking at the academy building with a frown. “I’m going, I’m going. Don’t tell Ishi-nee that I was late ‘cause I’m not, ya know” she grumbled but began her walk to the academy entrance door.

Akegata watched her leave and stayed where he was well after he couldn’t see a trace of red hair any longer. Looking at Kaze, he smiled as the baby blinked slowly and then turned to look at his daughter. He hadn’t felt any tugs in the last two minutes and he was kind of getting worried. Before working himself into a panic though, he felt a more familiar tug on his hair and smiled on instinct before turning around and seeing his wife.

She held a sleeping Kireina on her arms and he chuckled at the sight. The twins took more after Ishi than they did him, his only trait that passed down to them both was the shape of his eyes and the green coloring on one of their eyeballs. 

He didn’t mind though, Ishi had always been a sight to behold. Ishi Uzumaki had always been tall, standing well over most people’s heads with a muscular build that didn’t make her seem overly bulky. Her golden eyes and red hair didn’t make her stand out as much as the seals etched on her skin did. All in all, Akegata found her to be one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen but that wasn’t why he fell in love with her. 

She had been his best friend for thirteen years and out of those, only six of them had been spent on being romantic partners. He knew her better than anyone else and the same could be said for her, they trusted each other implicitly and Akegata wouldn’t change that for the world.

He knew how hard it was for a shinobi to trust, especially one who had been trained to fight as soon as they could walk. He lived in a shinobi village, had considered the lifestyle for himself but ultimately decided that it wasn’t something that he wanted. Becoming a merchant hadn’t been his dream but it led him to find his most precious person and it was enough.

He trusted her as well. They made sure to talk things out after the first few misunderstandings that they got into when they began dating. 

It seemed to surprise a few people when he made offhand comments about his wife spending the night with a friend of hers. 

It irked him when others thought that he should have some semblance of control over his own wife. Those were the people he couldn’t stand and he tuned them out and went his way when people proved to be entitled dicks. Their system wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but there were a few silver linings that he was grateful for.

A snort made his head jerk up and it wasn’t until he felt his facial muscles relax that he realized he had been making a face.

Ishi was laughing though, and it was enough for him to forget his momentary lapse of anger. Her laugh was unmistakably joyous and he could feel himself smiling fondly at the sound. She hadn’t laughed like that since he had gotten back and even though she had told him about her plan to become the head of her clan, it wasn’t enough.

He had felt useless, those first few days, he had received the news on the road and all he could think about was that he needed to get to his wife as soon as possible. Logically, he knew that he couldn’t alleviate the pain of losing the majority of her family. Of losing her  _ home. _

But he could distract her when he thought she would be going into another spiral of depression. He could take care of the kids and leave her with enough space for her to grieve in peace, to break down like she so desperately wanted. He could help with the little things and hope it would be enough.

Ishi calmed from her laughing fit a few seconds later. There was a giggle here and there but she eventually went quiet and Akegata looked at her expectantly but he was smiling. She had something to say, that much was certain but he wasn’t sure if it was good news or bad news. He heard more than saw her take a deep breath before hearing her exhale and then-

“It turns out my plan wasn’t too bad,” she started, he wanted to ask what she meant but remained quiet as she continued “my mother sent a scroll with a letter from each one of them. My father decided to add a bonus and sent me four more summoning scrolls but I think the one that took the cake was my mother’s message” Ishi took out a scroll then and waved it half-heartedly before her arm went limp. Her hand had a firm grasp on it though and Akegata could only stare at her in silence.

“Apparently, my mom had an… inkling, I guess you could say, that our village could face some trouble soon enough. Out of everyone, she’s the one that went the deepest into the Elemental Nations and the one who has traveled the farthest away from them as well, so she could have caught wind of an attack at one point. She managed to convince our leaders to make me the Clan Head of the Uzumaki clan, should anything happen to them. A failsafe if you would, I don’t think they actually thought that Uzushio would fall but they decided to humor her, I guess. As long as I become an active shinobi again, I’ll have the title until someone with more claim to the position shows up but they would have to fight me for it” that statement earned a dry chuckle from the redhead. She seemed so  _ tired  _ but this wasn’t something that he could help her with and it  _ hurt  _ to not being able to do anything.

He wasn’t a shinobi for one. He didn’t have any political power whatsoever. All he had was his family’s business to earn him a living. However, he had to  _ think  _ of something so he could help her, after all, small acts often turned into the biggest help and he wanted to do as much as he could to support his wife in her choice.

“M-My parents can watch after the business and I can stay home and take care of the kids” he proposed as soon as he could find his voice. He had known Ishi since they were young. Knew that she didn’t want to be a shinobi like so many others wanted to be but that she would do what was necessary to keep those she loved safe. She had always had a kind heart but it was dedicated to the people instead of the village itself. He would do what he could to make this easier on her, he wouldn’t let her choose between her family and her clansmen. 

Akegata had gone to Uzushio as an apprentice for the cloth trade years ago and it was there that he noticed that the people there were more tightly knit than any other Hidden Village he had been to. There was something about the Whirlpool Village that was… otherworldly, almost as if the Village itself was a being that was too vast to comprehend. Even as an outsider, he could almost  _ feel  _ how alive the place was and he had a feeling that it wasn’t just the people inhabiting the place that made it that way.

Ishi hadn’t seemed too upset when being there but her mother came and went as she pleased and that’s probably when Ishi found that she didn’t want to be a shinobi. Akegata didn’t know the full story, only that by the time they got married, Ishi was more than willing to give everything she had worked to gain some normality in her life. 

Things were different now, the situation was direr now and it wasn’t just Ishi who was going to be affected.

He had seen firsthand, the amount of chakra that an Uzumaki held and as his wife had told him, the Elemental Nations would be looking for the survivors. Either to kill them or control them, he didn’t know but the villages were callous and Ishi’s clansmen were in danger. He couldn’t allow himself to waver here and compared to the grand scheme of things, he thought they could afford to take a break, at least until the twins were slightly older and his parents were ready to retire for good.

“Are you sure? I can wait another year and we can come up with something else in th-” Akegata cut her off by grabbing Kireina from her grasp with his other hand and beginning to walk home. “I’m sure,” he finally settled on and tried to give her a charming smile when she looked at him doubtfully. It succeeded in making her smile, it was more of a twitch on the lips but it was close enough “We’re a team, partners and everything. We can afford to take a break from the business and I know that your clan is important to you. As long as you’re ready, I’ll support your choices” he finished.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes before he heard a tired sigh. “You’re going to be in danger, I don’t think I need to tell you this but I just want you to make sure that you’re comfortable with that,” she said quietly. He gave her a nod but didn’t tell her it would be okay, they both knew the truth and didn’t need to sugarcoat things. 

“I’m sure Ishi, besides, I won’t be leaving the village for a few years so things should calm down enough by the time I start traveling again. Even if things don’t calm down by then, I think we’ll be able to make a living out of your pay as a shinobi. You’re ridiculously talented after all, it might be nice to be a trophy husband for a while” he received a soft smile for his efforts at lightening the mood but the look in her eye was dangerous “I'll talk to the Hokage right away then. I want all the survivors from my village accounted for before any actual snatching begins” with that, she jumped up to the roof and made her way towards the direction of the Hokage's office. 

Akegata watched her leave before realizing that he was already home. Gripping the twins significantly tighter, he looked at the doorknob in betrayal. It was going to take him a while to figure out how to open the door with both of his arms occupied but he would manage.

Hopefully.

✦

Being the Hokage of one of the strongest villages in the Elemental Nations proved to be even harder than Hiruzen had anticipated. That didn’t mean that he regretted taking the hat though, he was still young and right now, the paperwork seemed more appealing than having his beard being pulled by an enthusiastic four-year-old. Asuma was a hyperactive child, nothing like his older sister but he supposed it was for the best. 

Without really meaning to, he found himself smiling slightly at the thought of his family before he sensed that someone was coming.

He ruled out assassination as the first thing, mostly because if the incoming shinobi wanted to kill him they should have gone for a subtler route rather than projecting their chakra like that.

Besides, there was something almost familiar about that chakra now that he thought about it… 

His brain registered just who exactly it was before he felt a pang of regret as soon as he saw the red hair tied into a tight ponytail. The woman standing before him was dark skinned, with golden eyes (almost akin to Tsunade’s own) and shoulder-length red hair that looked like spilled blood. She was imposing, taller than most of his shinobi and even beneath the long sleeve dress she wore, he could see defined muscles shifting as she took in his office.

“Is there anything I can help you with, Ishi?” he asked, signaling for his guards to stand down, the woman may have been registered as a civilian but she had visited Mito often enough for some other civilians to start questioning that status. 

Hiruzen knew better though, there was no doubt that she came from Uzushio but the way she moved at times gave her away as a kunoichi. Her papers hadn’t said much about her background, just that she came from a shinobi family and married the merchant Akegata Kagetsu. She hadn’t taken his last name and he hadn’t taken hers, which he found odd but he didn’t feel like it was in his place to question their choices. All in all, there really hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary from the small family, if one only looked at what was on paper.

“Yes, actually. I think you’ve already figured out that Mito was my aunt, my mother was her cousin and if that isn’t clue enough, Yoake Uzumaki was my mother” she deadpanned. Sarutobi paused then, his brain seeming to have a hard time trying to register what the younger woman had just said. He had expected a battle of words, double meanings etched into simple statements that would probably keep him thinking about the conversation hours later, wondering if he had deciphered everything. He hadn’t expected such a straightforward answer, especially not from a direct relative of the Uzumaki princess. Rubbing his temple, he let out a tired sigh before nodding. 

Ishi took it as an invitation to continue.

“Hokage-sama, I would like to be reinstated as a shinobi of the Leaf and take my rightful position as the Clan Head of the Uzumaki clan. If Konoha will have us, I will be gathering up my remaining clansmen and bring them here,” seemingly done with what she had to say, she bowed before straightening up again and looking at him expectantly. 

“As much as I would like to bring the Uzumaki clan back the-” he was cut off when Ishi waved a scroll and pulled out papers, settling them on his desk with more force than necessary. Her expression was grim as she took a step back but she had that stubborn posture that he was beginning to think was a hereditary trait. “My clansmen are vulnerable at the moment and I don’t doubt that the other Hidden Villages are looking for survivors. It doesn’t matter if it will put a target on my back, I _ need  _ to find them but for that, I’m going to need Konoha. I need Konoha to be there for us and not fail my people as it did just a month ago,” the 'or else' was implied there and Hiruzen wondered if the woman was truly capable of leaving Konoha to form her Clan somewhere else. Seeing that she had left her home village, he couldn't put it past her.

It was a low blow, an obvious manipulation tactic but entirely true. Seeing the slant of Ishi’s frown, he guessed that he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Not if Konoha wanted to keep a reputable standing and not be taken out from the inside.

He doubted it would ever come to that but the Uzumakis had had some political power, seeing as Ishi was willing to take over the role of Clan Head he had no doubt that she’d had some training in the area of politics. Not only that but she had visited Mito often and that was just asking for trouble, especially if she was really the niece of the elder Uzumaki woman. 

It probably didn’t help him that Ishi had started a friendship with Biwako and had helped babysit Asuma on more than one occasion. 

“I’ll call the council for a meeting and speak to the daimyō about this. I’ll send a hawk your way once things are decided. As for you joining Konoha’s forces, I’ll need to see additional paperwork but there shouldn’t be a problem in letting you keep your previous rank in Uzushio” he sighed. A triumphant smirk was his answer as Ishi put away her scroll and made to open the door. Stopping just before opening it, she looked at him and smiled sadly at him “Thank you Hokage-sama. The Uzumakis aren’t the only ones that need help right now but starting small will have to be enough” saying her piece, she opened the door before deciding to think better of it and headed towards the window again. 

“Need the practice” she motioned towards the window and was halfway out before she turned to him again. This time, the expression was dangerous and Hiruzen was reminded of the first time he had met Yoake Uzumaki, ten years older than himself and already making a name for herself with a violent track record. Her daughter certainly got a few things from her, that was for sure.

“Kushina Uzumaki is staying with my husband and I. As a member of my clan and with the blessings of our own elders, she’ll be under my custody for the foreseeable future. I hope it doesn’t become a problem, she still has a lot to learn and I can assure you, I’m the most qualified person to teach her. I’ll see you later!”

He didn’t rub his temple like he wanted to but it was a near thing. Looking at the pile of paperwork on his desk, he took note of the documents that the woman had left behind and checked them over. The formal letter from the last Clan Head was in there as well as a few personal reports from people who had known the woman. Her shinobi file was in there as well and Hiruzen took his time reading it. 

_ Jounin, Sensor, Seal Master- _

Alright, so, it turned out that testing wouldn’t be necessary unless she insisted, which would make the process a lot easier than he anticipated. Uzushio’s fall hadn’t been that long ago and Hiruzen doubted many would refute Ishi’s claim, not when she had the upper ground when it came to this and it was her  _ right  _ like her superiors agreed upon. The fact that she was laying claim on Konoha’s Jinchuuriki might cause some problems but their clan was the  _ only  _ one that could hold the Kyuubi in the first place. 

He could already feel a headache coming on just thinking about the political implications. If only his teacher had waited a few more years, maybe he wouldn’t be the one having to deal with  _ this _ . 

Honestly, he needed a drink. The Uzumakis were making a comeback and somehow, he didn’t think he was going to be spared from the wrath of Uzushio.

✦

The blonde had stared at her again today but hadn’t done anything to help her against the older kids making fun of her.  _ Useless pretty boy  _ is all she has to say about him.

It was just as well because Kushina managed to handle them just fine on her own. They had left her alone for a few days but it had been stupid to think that they would leave her alone just like that even if Ishi had taken her in.

Well, she would just have to continue to deal with them until they backed off. The teachers didn’t do or say anything to the bullies and she didn’t know if Ishi would do anything to help. She was an outsider, plain and simple, and even at the age of nine, she knew what that meant. She wouldn’t be finding support here, not yet at least.

As she passed by the market on her way home, she could hear the whispers that others said about her.

Last of the Uzumaki Clan, a foreigner, too hot-headed to be a proper kunoichi. 

Doesn’t belong, doesn’t belong,  _ doesn’t belong _ is all that she hears. 

Passing by a stall, she glares at the tomatoes before breaking into a run to make it to the apartment faster. A hand stops her halfway there and she’s about to raise her fists to stop the person who grabbed her before she hears a familiar voice repeating her name.

“Kushina, you don’t have to rush like that, Akegata’s preparing dinner today and a friend of mine is going to come over to help babysit. We’re going to go to one of the training grounds so you can choose your summons” the rising panic is slow to ebb away and by the end, Kushina feels drained. Ever since she had the Kyuubi sealed inside of her, she had found that she became even more temperamental than usual. 

It could have been because of all the changes but Kushina needed someone to blame and the fox was as good a scapegoat as any. 

“Okay, what do I need to do?” she asks just as she turns to look at the older kunoichi properly and stops when she sees her properly.

The uniform was new, the blues and greens of Konoha prominent but paled compared to the Uzumaki spiral on proud display. One arm was covered in a long sleeve while the other was left bare, displaying the seals tattooed on the skin as well as the scars that she undoubtedly gained back when she had been an active shinobi. 

Kushina didn’t realize how used she was to see the older woman in a dress until this point when she looked just like any other shinobi. The only thing that was missing was a flak jacket and a hitai-ate to complete the setup.

“Just get on my back, I’ll carry you where we need to go” Ishi replied and Kushina did as she was told, jumping excitedly on the older woman’s back before they took off. 

The feeling of wind on her face was familiar but she missed the ocean breeze more than ever. At least she had someone that she could share stories with. Someone who knew what she could be going through and wouldn’t shy away from her like the people who had learned that she was the Jinchuuriki for the demon fox.

The Hokage was nice enough but he was also weary and she could tell. Had she been in his place, she doesn’t think she would have had a different reaction. She was a sacrifice, after all, her death hadn’t been required but most of her will had in order to serve Konoha as a human container. She understood her duty but it didn’t mean she had to _ like it _ . 

Ishi stopped then and let her legs go. Kushina dangled there, hanging on to her neck before releasing her grip and landing lightly on her feet before inspecting their surroundings. The training ground was different than what she was used to, with the open clearing but a thick expanse of trees all around. It was… big but not overwhelmingly so. 

She turned to ask Ishi a question then but the kunoichi was making her way around, stopping every few minutes before kneeling and then standing up again before moving forward.

Seemingly satisfied with her work, she made her way back towards Kushina and placed her hands on the ground. A surge of chakra and then… nothing. 

But that wasn’t quite true, Kushina looked up and saw a barrier go up before looking at the woman questioningly.

“It’s to keep things private, I’m not fond of sneak attacks and I’m paranoid. Don’t want anybody figuring out my secrets, right?” Kushina nodded at that and continued looking at the barrier with curiosity before the sound of shifting clothing made her look back at the older woman.

She was pulling out a scroll from a seal on her hip and going by the design, it was a storage seal but designed differently. Kushina wanted to ask about it but the pile of scrolls coming out of the single storage scroll made her forget.

“Which one is for summons?” there are eleven if them, surely at least one of them was going to be for summoning. She didn't have much knowledge of summons if she was being honest, so she didn't know what to expect.

“They’re all summoning scrolls, not all of them are sage animals but you’ll find that summons can be your best allies in a tight situation” Ishi replied before she settled down on the ground and motioned for Kushina to follow.

She did so reluctantly but turned to look at the scrolls again almost immediately after. There were a few things different about them, that was for sure. Grabbing the one that caught her eye, she inspected the cover before turning it around and finding a seal. 

Ishi seemed to be done looking through and Kushina figured it was as good a time as any. “Ishi-need, are they supposed to have these?” 

“I'm not sure. Can I see that Kushina?” She asked and the younger complied before taking a look at the other scrolls. After a few minutes of silence, Ishi gave a triumphant huff before handing her the scroll back. 

“It was a safety precaution, if it ever fell into the wrong hands, they would need to figure out the seal and have Uzumaki blood to just be able to get access to the second mechanism. You'll just have to apply your own blood to open it and then sign it” Ishi explained just as she took out a brush and handed it to her.

Kushina wondered where she had kept it before thinking better of it and biting her finger hard enough to bleed. 

She was about to ask where the blood would go before spotting a place for her bloody finger to go into. The opening itself was anticlimactic, just an audible click and the sight that greeted her were signatures of the previous holders. Grabbing the brush, she signed her name with her own blood and looked at it with satisfaction.

“Now what, Ishi-nee?” She asked excitedly but it dimmed down when she noticed the serious expression on Ishi's face.

“Before I teach you how to summon, I want you to answer something for me, alright?” 

Kushina nodded wearily.

“Are you the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi?” 

She tried to back away before realizing that she was trapped. Denying anything right away would make her look suspicious and she was trusted with this mission. She remembered Lady Mito's words, the Hokage's warning, but-

The older woman already knew, didn't she? Kushina wasn’t too good at lying, not yet anyway. Realistically, there was a chance that Ishi had known what she was when she came into the village, so there wasn’t a point in hiding it anyway, orders or not.

“Yes and what about it?” she asked defiantly. 

She didn’t know what to expect, that alone made her feel wary of saying anything else but Ishi just smiled at her and looked at her scroll. Kushina followed the older woman’s gaze and she tightened her grip on the edges of the scroll, careful not to crease it.

“I don’t know what they taught you in Uzushio. Whether you were told the stories of the Sage of Six Paths and how the Bijū came to be. What their purpose was… all of that and so much more. However, that can be put on hold for a later time. I want you to keep in mind that no matter the hatred and malice that the Kyuubi emits, they’re still a sentient being and should be treated with common courtesy” 

Kushina felt like she should protest at that, the tailed beasts carried a bloody history that brought chaos and destruction to many settlements before they were all sealed away. She was about to say as much before the woman took another scroll and motioned for her to wait. 

Kushina didn’t want to wait but Ishi spoke over her before she could really get started.

“Think of it as dealing with a summons. They’re creatures with more nature chakra and help the ones that they hold a contract with. However, they must also be treated with respect and in some cases, a bit of paranoia and weariness. They can talk and they can use chakra, some might even have lived for thousands of years. The Kyuubi would be the same, I believe. However, you have the additional advantage of having a sturdy seal that protects you from him whereas, with these Summons, you’ll be completely open for attack. At the very least, try to reach a mutual understanding with the Kyuubi. You’re going to be stuck with each other for the foreseeable future, you won’t be going anywhere during that time” with her piece said, Ishi turned to look at the scroll before standing up in one swift motion.

Kushina followed and looked as Ishi started making hand seals before talking again. “Boar, Dog, Bird Monkey, and Ram. Apply blood to your hand and channel a large amount of chakra as you summon. It’s preferable that you do it on the ground” 

Doing as she was told, Kushina concentrated on following the instructions before smashing her hand to the ground and channeling as much chakra as she could. As impatient as she was, she had to make sure that this would be as close to perfect as she could get. 

There was a cloud of smoke and as it cleared, she could see the outline of an animal before it backed away from her. Startled, Kushina could only stare, wide-eyed, as she caught sight of her new partner.

The first thing that she noticed was that the Summons had a distinctly fox-like frame. It (he?) was lean yet the legs were longer than she expected and the tail wasn’t as big as she had thought.

She would be lying if she said she wasn’t disappointed and she was about to yell at Ishi that the fox probably messed her up before the creature spoke up.

“Hi! Um, I’m Bendik. Oh, um, who signed the Maned Wolf contract? I want to know who our new summoner is” he seemed nervous and Kushina could only stare incredulously as Ishi pointed to her. She had wanted something more… spirited maybe? Definitely not a  _ shy  _ summons. She barely managed not to glare at the Summons as he turned his attention towards her. 

“Oh, nice to meet you then. Is there anything you would like for me to do, or…?” he trailed off and Kushina shook her head. “Nah, I can summon you guys later, right?” a brief nod was all she needed before she barreled on “Okay, then I’ll see you later then” 

The maned wolf disappeared with a confused expression and Kushina crossed her arms before turning to look at Ishi. There was a soft smile on the older woman’s face though and Kushina felt her anger disappearing as she looked sadly at the disappearing cloud of smoke. 

“Maned Wolves are good Summons to have. They’re really shy but once you get familiar with them they’ll start to show more of their personality” she sounded like she had had experiences with them. Kushina looked at her scroll and looked at the names there. 

_ Hoshiko Uzumaki _

That had been the previous summoner.

It took Kushina a few seconds but things began to click and she looked at the scroll curiously. “Your sister had them right? The one that got into a lot of accidents”

Ishi laughed at that but nodded anyway and Kushina beamed. She supposed that if these summons didn’t look all that impressive at the moment, well… they could just work at it until they got it right. 

She still had to talk to the Kyuubi but the task didn’t seem too daunting now that she thought about it. It would definitely be hard and she doubted she could stand to talk to him for more than a few hours at a time but-

she could try.

Besides, now she had someone to talk to and was way ahead of the other kids in her class. 

“What are we having for dinner Ishi-nee?” she asked later that day when they were headed towards Ishi’s home after getting some practice on seals. Kushina was beginning to feel confident that with enough time, she could make them her specialty but what really attracted her were the swords that Ishi had received from her mother. 

“I’m not sure. I told Akegata to surprise me and Dai was going to come to dinner with his daughter. You’ll love her, she’s adorable” thoughts of swords were replaced by the thought of another kid in the house and Kushina forced herself not to grimace. It was nice and all to play with the babies but it wasn’t so cute when they began crying at weird hours and didn’t let her sleep. 

“Well… I sure hope Akegata-nii made enough for all of us ‘cause I’m starving ya know” she was kind of missing eating ramen too. Maybe one of these days, she could convince Ishi if they could go out to-

“He said, he was going to make ramen tonight. Not sure how it’ll turn out but…” Kushina tuned her out then, grabbing her hand and setting off at a run to get home on time.

She was willing to talk to the Kyuubi  _ and  _ let the kids pull her hair if it meant getting free ramen out of it. 

It seemed like a good trade-off.


End file.
